Whatever Takes Us Away

To the Youth Group at New Harmony UMC,

The Youth Director has challenged you to get as many young people (6th – 12th grades) to come to our Sunday evening gatherings. The challenge is to have at least 20 young people attend our gatherings for no less than four (4) weeks consecutively.

If this challenge is met I will do the following: Dye my hair black with streaks or patches of white. The current group has one week to decide whether or not to take this challenge upon themselves.

(Brittany not pictured)

Our group currently consists of 6 young people. That means at least fourteen (14) additional people have to attend four consecutive weeks, totaling 20 in all. This challenge has to be met before the end of January 2008 for the Youth Director to consider it accomplished in full.

The challenge has been issued. Will you step up to the challenge?

Greetings! Today, being September 20th, is the day before September 21st. Duh! Tomorrow, being September 21st, is my wife's birthday!

We have been together for 10 years now, and in October we will have been married for nine (9) years. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else or with anyone else. She has grown into an amazing woman, gifted and talented and has an ability to take just about anything that comes her way (four children and a full time college schedule included). This post serves nothing more than to let Tina know that I am totally happy with who I married and to say "Happy Birthday" - even though the post may be a day early (I could set it to post at midnight, but I don't want to hassle with all that).

So, Happy Birthday Honey! I Love You and am so glad God choose You and I to be together.

Coffee. I like coffee. I like to drink coffee first thing each morning, usually before I do much of anything else. Somedays I drink more than others, not for the caffeine, but because I like it so much. One cup would be sufficient for the caff intake, but I continue to drink because I enjoy it.

Sunday morning, this past one, I didn't have the opportunity to have that first cup before getting started, or startled as it were. I was barely out of bed when my phone rang. It was my mom, sounding confused and bewildered and in need of help. My dad, who is also the church pastor, was sick and had hardly slept at all the night before. Could I help and stand in his place for preaching? Still needing that first sip of java, I accepted the task and wandered back up stairs to see what I could muster up. Coffee finally brewing!

I sometimes read something, hear something, see something that makes me write something. Okay, it's more than sometimes, it happens quite offten. I read my Bible often. I listen to a few Bible based programs through Podcasts on my iPod almost everyday. I see things in daily life that make me wonder what people sometimes think (or if they even think at all) before doing whatever it is and I feel compelled to write about it. This past Sunday morning was taken care of in advance of it ever happening. God took control and I let go.

The below post is what transpired several weeks ago. I didn't stick entirely to the written message, I sometimes tend to wander in my speaking, but mostly the written was what was spoken to the congregation.

After getting myself somewhat put together (message wise) I tended to myself, then to getting everything gathered for Children's Church. I thank God often and always for my best friend and wife, Tina, as she is the backbone and lifeline for me here on earth. She stepped in for me downstairs, gathered a few helpers and made it through Children's Church just fine. I got through my message, and by the divine inspiration and preparation of God, the music that was already picked out worked well with my message. Afterwards, those in the congregation ensured me that I did a good job and a few, at least three, said I had a promising future behind a pulpit. Had to come to grips with something like that thought, but somehow, by God, I accepted their compliments and well wishes with grace. Firm handshakes all around and out the door.

I still needed coffee, the 1.5 cups just didn't do it and I was mentally, emotionally and physically drained after church.

Today, however, I have had nearly a whole pot of coffee, making up for my weekend lack. Drink on java lovers!

What’s really going on in the world today? Is that we, as humans given dominion over all things, have ruined this place? Or, is it that we have allowed Satan a foothold in our lives so much that our country looks and runs the way it does? Or, are we so much like the Israelites of the Old Testament that God has allowed us to be in the hands of our enemies?

Judges 5:31 through 6:6, “So may all your enemies perish, O LORD! But may they who love you be like the sun when it rises in its strength." Then the land had peace forty years. Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the LORD for help.

And again in Numbers 14:21-23 we read, “Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times - not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it.”

There’s a pattern when you look at many of the Old Testament stories: The Israelites rebel and revolt against God; the Lord punishes the Israelites for their disobedience; the Israelites cry out to God for help; God provides a way out and provides redemption when they turn their ways back toward Him. Let’s read a little further in those passages of scripture. Judges 6:11-12, “The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” While Gideon may not have been a mighty warrior, God had chosen him as His instrument of redemption for the Israelites. And again in Numbers 14:30, “Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.” The Israelites turned from God when they could have walked into the promised land, but two men, Caleb and Joshua gave good reports of the land and tried to ensure that with God’s help it could be theirs. These two men, out of so many that came up out of Egypt, were the only two from that time who would enter into that land – the redemption.

Are we as a nation and as Christians in a similar pattern, and have we turned our ways from God so much and His desire for us as His people? Let’s take a moment just to look at a few things that have taken place in recent U.S. history:
Legalized abortions
Prayer in schools banned
People arguing to remove “under God” from the pledge of allegiance
People arguing to remove “In God We Trust” from all our monies
The rise in violent crimes, murder, foul language on radio and TV . . .
The list could go on and on for a very long time, I think you get the point.

So, is it Satanic influence in our society? Maybe, in part, but certainly not in whole. Is it the fault of Christians unwilling to bow to God’s will for His people? The same, part, but not wholly. I think it is a combination of many things. The book of Jude, versus 3 through 10, “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them.”

These godless people have infiltrated our lives, our families, our workplaces, our churches and our governments. Is that it for us then? No. You see, we as the church have been set apart by God for His good and great purposes. 1 Peter 2:9-10 says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” In that, each of us has been given gifts by the Holy Spirit. And if we move forward just a bit to 1 Peter 4:10, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.” We need to tap into those resources, each and every one of us, and help bring about real change and real revival, to awaken those lost souls to the Word and Power of God.

Now then, back to the Israelites. An angel of the Lord came to Gideon, Gideon tested God, God tested Gideon’s faith. In Judges 7:2-7 we see that Gideon had 32,000 men to start with, 22,0000 left when they were given the opportunity to do so; then, another 9,700 were weeded out, leaving Gideon with only 300 men to fight with against the Midianites. Most of you probably know the outcome of that one, Gideon and his men, by the Power of God, were victorious and caused the Israelites to once again turn their gaze back to the Lord. It may have not been the end to their usual pattern, but a return to the Lord none-the-less.

What if we would turn our gaze upon God? What if we would give God the credit for everything we accomplished, each and every day? Instead of saying, “I did it on my own” or “I did it my way.” Why not say, “God used ME to accomplish this!”

We have been given the power to move mountains, why not use that to make this world a better place? We follow a RISEN SAVIOR and if we look to Matthew 28:16-20, “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus tells us what we are to do and assures us that He will be with us to the very end of the age. Let’s do our best to fulfill that great commission before another generation passes. We are followers of Jesus, not followers of the world!

We, ourselves, are as much to blame for our current situation as the devil, but let us turn our gaze to Him who provides all, and is all. 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” God IS faithful and He will provide a way out for us. We need to open ourselves to Him and give Him the glory and honor He SHOULD receive from us. Let us be like the sun that rises in its strength, giving light to a darkened world.

Yes, it has been nearly a month since my last post, but things have been a little hectic around here. Forgive me.

As stated in my last post, I am now the Youth & Children's Director for our church, and this last Sunday was the kick off for our new Children's Church service. I rather enjoyed it. Tough to say, but my guess is that it went well. The kids seemed to like it, and I think, the adult helpers seemed to like it as well. Live B.I.G. (believe in God) will hopefully continue to be a success in our little basement sanctuary.

And there is more . . .

The kids are back in school, and for a short time, Tina will have a short break from school. Finding a routine in all of this can make one's head spin for days. Me, well, I'm back at second shift. Some things don't change. We are all still trying our best to get into some semblance of a routine - a manageable and workable, yet realistic routine.